A Present Future
by Lady Koneko Shin-Chan
Summary: In 1988 the Samurai Troopers saved the world from the Youjakai. What if . . . what if there was another demonic invasion, one that no one knew about, until it was too late? A young girl from the future is sent back to 1992 to save the world.
1. Sadness Reigns

A PRESENT FUTURE   
CHAPTER 1: SADNESS REIGNS   
by SHIN-CHAN   


    Arial was standing on the remains of the old Tokyo Bay Bridge, gazing out at the once proud skyline of Tokyo. Once, it was a majestic view, especially at sunset. All the buildings looked as though liquid gold had been poured over them. Or so she had been told. 

    These days, all one could see were the ruined buildings of a past era. Most of the tall skyscrapers had fallen, only great piles of rubble marked where they had once proudly stood. 

    Sunsets these days brought up images of blood instead of gold. 

    Once, long ago, the city was full of people. The sound of people going on with their lives filled the city with noise and activity night and day. All was quiet now. In those days, the city had been liberally dotted with small parks; little oasis's enabling the residents a momentary escape from city life. There, one could walk under tall trees, admire flowers with all the colors of the rainbow, and feed the ducks and koi that lived in the many ponds. 

    Since the Devastation, only the heartiest of plants and animals lived in Japan. 

    She had heard many things about this city from her father and uncles, all who had once lived here. About how the world use to be when they were young and growing up years ago. About how things would never be again. 

    A strong hand suddenly came down on her shoulder. Startled, Arial pulled away and spun around. She looked up into a pair of dark blue eyes. 

    "Arial, what are you doing here? Kayura has been looking all over for you." 

    "Ah, Uncle." She turned away from him and her gaze returned to the horizon. "I was trying to see the city the way it use to be. Father said it was so beautiful when the sun set." She wanted to see that, the beautiful vision her father had told her about. Something, no matter how insubstantial it was, to connect her to the past that she could barely remember. 

    Shu nodded his head in agreement, a nod that went unseen by Arial. It had been a beautiful sight. "C'mon kid. Lets get out of here, and back to the Stronghold. You know it isn't safe to be out after the sun sets." His eyes focused on the western horizon where the sun was now sinking out of sight. The blood-red orb sinking out of view was a far cry from the golden sphere of his youth. 

    Nodding sadly, she turned. "Hai Uncle."   
  
* * * * *   


    As they approached the barricade a half-hour later, they watched a lone shadow step out of a nearby alley and walked toward them. They both tensed before they recognized it as a friend instead of the enemy. 

    "Finally!" the familiar voice called out to them in relief. "I was beginning to get worried about you two. The Lady had me standing here for hours watching for you." 

    Shu gave the young man a fleeting smile. "And I bet you were bored out of your mind, right?" He was not surprised to see Nizou nod his head sharply in agreement. It seemed that the people who wore the Kongo armor always had a problem with waiting. They always seemed to be more suited to action than anything else. Given time, Nizou would probably grow out of it. Then again, Nizou was barely twenty, and he, who was in his forties, still couldn't stand waiting. 

    "Everyone is in the council chamber," Nizou informed the two of them as they were let into the gate by the guards and started for the low buildings. "The Lady called a meeting. She told me to bring you when you showed up." 

    Shu calmly nodded, he was not surprised. Arial noticed this, and gave him a curious look. 

    "Uncle, do you know what is going on?" Aunt Kayura calling a meeting this late at night was not a good sign. The last time one was called was two years ago . . . Her mind shied away from the horrible memories. She did not want to remember what had happened after that. 

    Shu did not answer, and Arial waited until they were in the corridor to the council chamber before asking her next question. "Does it have something to do with what you, Aunt Kayura and Uncle Rajura are involved in?" For several months now, the three of them would leave on secret late night missions. Usually they would come back looking no worse for wear than when they left, and would not explain to any what they had been doing. They had gone out on one of those missions last night. 

    She tilted her head to one side as both Shu and Nizou gave her startled looks. Arial rolled her eyes in exasperation. 

    "I'm not an idiot, you know," she told them tartly. "Nor am I blind. I know something is going on, and I know I have been excluded from it. I don't know why," she muttered, more to herself than to them. "I turn seventeen tomorrow, and I have been fighting since I was twelve. I am not a child, and I don't much care to be treated as one." 

    Shu paused in the act of reaching for the door handle. "I know Arial, I know." They had been over this subject numerous times over the last few months. But this was so important. The risks were so great. And, she was their last hope. No mistakes could be made. He opened the door and motioned for her to enter. 

    It was a small room, deep within the building. Dark, the only light in the room was provided by a dozen or so candles, flames dancing. 

    _Magic,_ Arial thought. The air inside the room was still as death. There were no drafts to cause the candles to flicker. 

    Seated inside the room were eight other people. First there was her Aunt Kayura, the Lady Kayura; their leader. Sitting next to her on the right was Rajura, her right-hand man. Shu stepped away from Arial and took the empty seat on the left of Kayura. 

    Lady Kayura gave Arial a brief nod as she entered the room and took the last empty seat. There was no welcoming smile for the girl she had helped raise. Kayura hadn't smiled for anyone during the past two years. Not many knew why, but Arial did. 

    Also seated in the room were seven men, all in their early to mid twenties. All had been given the mystical yoroi that the Samurai Troopers and the Ma Sho had once worn. Nizou was the youngest currently wearing the yoroi. 

    Johji and Onuki had been given the yoroi that Anubis and Naaza had once worn. Neither had received it from the original wearers. Machael wore the Rekke yoroi. It had gone through three other people before he received it. Next was Hido, the wearer of the Korin yoroi. Lady Kayura had given him the yoroi when he was twelve, and has been the lone wearer since. He had also been given advice from the original wearer of Korin, Date Seiji. After that, came Yuta and Kyouske. They had the Tenku and Suiko yoroi. 

    They, plus Shu and Nizou, were the only ones keeping the mysterious Shadow Lords from completely taking over. As long as they lived, they would resist what had happened to their world all those years ago. 

    The Shadow Lords plan of conquest had been simple. The populace of the world had been caught completely unprepared. On a sunny spring day in 2001, for all intent and purposes, the world ended. 

    Massive earthquakes shook the land and numerous volcanoes erupted around the world. Tsunami reaching well over 200 ft. struck all of the coastlines, and violent storms of previously unseen proportions appeared from blue skies. 

    The atmosphere itself changed. The once blue sky took on a reddish cast, and the air became thick and heavy with unknown gasses. 

    Strange creatures had appeared. Monsters previously known only from myths now roamed the land. 

    As months went by, what few people who had survived began to note what had happened, and what they could do. It was discovered that barely one-eighth of humanity had survived to this point. Many had died from the natural disasters that had struck that first day, and had continued for weeks later. The very act of breathing had killed many more. Arial's mother had been one of those who had been unable to tolerate the changed atmosphere. Then there were those who were killed, and were still being killed by monsters. 

    Barely had they began to gather up the scattered threads of their lives, when the true threat appeared. They called themselves the Shadow Lords, and they claimed the Earth as their own. 

    The meager remains of humanity rallied against them, and were all but wiped out. Her father had taken one look at them, stated that they were demons, and made for Japan. He had friends, he told her, who could fight them. 

    Her father's friends became her uncles. When he was killed in battle years later, they helped in her upbringing. Other friends of her father had appeared to help them fight by then. Old enemies who had became friends. And one of them, Lady Kayura, who was more of an elder sister to her than an aunt, became the sole adult female influence in her life. 

    Lady Kayura placed her hands in her lap and softly cleared her throat. Everyone in the room turned to her. "I assume you are all aware that in the past few years, we have been steadily losing this battle." Some of the men in the room grumbled to themselves at that. They knew she was right, but they just didn't want to hear it. "Had I know then, back before I removed the five yoroi from the Youjakai, what I know now, I would have done things differently." She lowered her eyes to her now tightly clenched hands. This was the only indication about how upset she really was. "This battle was lost before we were even aware that a threat existed. Instead of fighting the Shadow Lords, we should have gathered as many people as we could and retreated to the Youjakai. Now, it is too late." Everyone was struck into silence at her words. That was the last thing any of them had been expecting to hear. 

    "Can't we go there now?" a low voice broke the prevailing silence. 

    The speaker was Yuta. 

    Sadly she shook her head. "No, by removing the five yoroi that guarded the gates, its safety has been compromised. The Shadow Lords can reach that realm. We have lost this battle." 

    Silence enveloped the room. As bearers of the Armor of Chains loss was not something they could easily swallow. 

    "But," Lady Kayura lifted her head and gazed at Arial, her eyes ice. "There is a way we can win the war." That caused an immediate stir amongst the listeners. 

    "There is? How?" 

    "You just said . . . " 

    "Why didn't you tell us this before?" 

    "SILENCE!" Rajura's command worked like a charm. All sat and became quiet again. 

    "Thank you Rajura," Kayura said softly. "An idea was proposed years ago by Touma," she paused for a second, then continued. "We were caught completely unawares by the Shadow Lords. We are still unaware of when they first started their advance on the Earth or how to fight them effectively. As their world and ours are now one, the only way we can truly win is to defeat them before this can occur." 

    "Hold on." Machael raised his hand. "Are you saying, the only way we can win is to fight in the past?" 

    "Sort of." Shu was now speaking. "We found out how they had merged our two worlds. It is our intent to prevent this from happening." 

    "Works for me." Johji looked around. "How do we do it?" Kayura, Shu and Rajura were silent for a moment. Then . . . 

    "The only way this will work is to combine the power of the nine yoroi, plus the shakujo and send someone back in time." Kayura was still looking at Arial, who swallowed nervously. Suddenly she had a bad premonition as to whom Lady Kayura was planning on sending back. 

    She wasn't the only one to come up with the same notion. Out of the eleven people in the room, only two did not have the mystical yoroi, and Shu was also looking at Arial. None of the listeners were fond of the idea. 

    "You are not serious . . . " 

    "She is but a child . . . " 

    "Surely someone else . . . " 

    "No." Kayura stood up. "Arial has always been the only choice for this mission. None of the yoroi wearers can go, as their power is needed. Shu is not bound by his armor in this way, but there is no possible way he could carry out the mission. Only Arial can go back, because she will not be affected by the time stream." 

    Nizou peered closely at Arial. The Lady had lost him. "What do you mean by that?" 

    "It means," Shu simply explained, "that if she changes something in the past, it won't affect her. She cannot null out her own existence or change things so that she doesn't remember why she is there." 

    "Correct." Kayura walked the few steps over to where Arial was sitting and kneeled down in front of her. "Arial, are you willing to do this?" 

    Her eyes grew wide, and she bit down on her bottom lip. 

    "You will have to go back and stop the Shadow Lords from taking over the Earth. If you do so, this, our past and present, will never occur. Nothing since the Devastation will have happened. The only place where any of this will exist will be in your memory. You will be the sole survivor of a world that will never exist. Will you go?" 

    _None of this will happen._ Arial looked at the dearly loved faces staring at her. _I will never meet these people. None of the yoroi will be removed from the Youjakai. No one will have died._ Her eyes grew wider in realization of what her mission meant to her. _Mother, Father. Touma and Ryo. Shin. All my friends. None of them will have died. Can I risk never knowing them, never seeing any of my friends again, to save them?_ There was only one answer she could possibly give, as Lady Kayura knew. Giving a curt nod, she stared Lady Kayura straight in the eyes. "Yes, I'll do it."   
  
* * * * *   


    The next day dawned bright and clear in Shinjuku. It was here, where the Samurai Troopers and Arago's Ma Sho had fought for the control of the Earth so many years ago, where the meager remains of the citizens of Tokyo now lived. 

    Several years ago, Lady Kayura and her followers had built a giant barricade around the part of the city that had once been known as Shinjuku. Most of the buildings had collapsed due to earthquakes and neglect, but the subway tunnels were clear of rubble. They had blocked off all outside tunnels, and most of the survivors now lived below the city. Above, people had planted numerous gardens to supplement their food supplies. Once a week, men went out to hunt for meat for the three hundred plus people who lived here. 

    Arial and many of the settlements children were topside today. The sky was clear and the weather pleasant for a change. No matter what happened in the world, children still needed to run and play outdoors. 

    "Boo!" 

    "AHHH!" Arial fell backwards off the remains of a brick wall she had been sitting on. She landed with a dull thunk on her bottom. "Jamie!" she wailed. 

    Three of her friends laughed at the picture she made. As Arial glared at them, Yoriko stood up and came to her aid. "Boy Acee, you are sure jumpy today. What is up?" 

    "It is her birthday, ya know." Aimee said as Yoriko helped Arial to her feet. "That is why. It is not every day a girl turns seventeen." 

    "Get real Aimee." Seki came around the corner and stood next to the smirking Jamie. "Acee always jumps like that when you startle her. You know that. It has been proven countless times over the years. It being her birthday has nothing to do with it." 

    "Thanks for the support," Arial growled to her friends and dusted off the seat of her pants. Then she marched over to Jamie and looked up at him. He was over a foot taller than she did, something that clearly stated that his ancestry, like hers, wasn't pure Japanese. 

    "How many times do I have to tell you? DON'T DO THAT!" 

    "Ah Acee," unconcerned, Jamie tapped her on the nose, something that she always had hated. Once, long ago, someone she cared about had always done that. She couldn't stand Jamie doing the same. "Don't you know how cute you look whey you get startled like that?" 

    Quickly deciding it would be useless to respond, as it had never worked before, she turned away from Jamie and missed the look on his face. "Baka," she muttered under her breath. Only a jerk would think it was cute to scare the daylights out of a girl. 

    "So Acee," Yoriko sat on a large piece of broken cement and looked at her friend. "What is going on? Nizou went rushing past me this morning without so much as a nod." 

    Everyone knew that Yoriko and Nizou was a rather hot and heavy item. Four curious gazes focused on Arial. For him to rush past his ladylove like that, well, it meant that something big was soon going down. And Arial would more than likely know what. 

    Arial repressed the urge to shudder as a cold chill ran down her spine. The way that Jamie had just looked at her, the way his expression had just changed at Yoriko's question, it scared her. For just a moment. Sometimes, sometimes Jamie really scared her. And she didn't know why. 

    She laughed lightly, brushing aside her inner chill. "Come on now. You want me to pass on information as important as that?" The looks she received stated quite clearly that they did. "Hey," she protested, growing serious. "I can't talk about things like that, and you guys know it." 

    "But Acee," Aimee wailed. "You are on the inside. You have to know more than we do." 

    "Yeah Acee. You are part of the Inner Circle. There are things you have to know that we don't. Tell us." 

    _Seki . . . you of all people know I can't talk about what goes on._ "Listen, I can't tell you. What they are planning is top secret. Yoriko," Arial turned to her friend. "Nizou doesn't tell you what happens inside the Circle, does he?" Yoriko shook her head. "Neither can I. Besides," she adopted a look of disgust, "lately they have been keeping things from me. I don't really know what they are planning." 

    "Another attack," Jamie quietly mussed, making a wild guess. His eyes locked with Arial's. "Against the Shadow Lords themselves. Is that wise," he arched an inquiring eyebrow at Arial, a cold, malicious look in his eyes, "considering what happed the last time they tried a direct assault?" Arial froze. 

    "JAMIE!" Aimee and Yoriko rushed over to the now pale Arial. "Here, lower your head." Weakly Arial complied with Yoriko's command. 

    While Arial sat with her head between her legs, taking slow deep breaths, Aimee turned on Jamie. "You insensitive jerk! You know better than to bring that up!" 

    "Sorry," he said, but he didn't sound too contrite. 

    "Don't worry Aimee," Arial lifted her head up and smiled weakly at her friend. "It's okay." 

    "Are you sure?" Seki asked as came to stand next to her. 

    "Mhhh," she nodded, then looked at the sun. It was directly overhead. "Ahhhh," she sprang up and wobbled a bit as the world started to spin . . . Seki reached out and steadied her. Arial took a deep breath, then stepped away from her friend. "I'm going to be late!" 

    "Late for what?" 

    Arial turned to Jamie. "Lady Kayura wanted to see me at noon." 

    "For what?" he enquired. 

    _Ermmm . . . _ "I don't know why Jamie. I guess I'll find out when I get there," she replied a bit testily. 

    "Any guesses?" Jamie was starting to get pushy. 

    Arial spun around without answering, "Ja ne!" and ran off. 

    Her four friends watched her as she ran toward the small collection of buildings that housed the council members' living and meeting rooms. 

    Once Arial disappeared from view, Yoriko and Aimee said their good-byes and left. Yoriko was on child watching detail for the afternoon, and Aimee was supposed to be helping in the gardens. 

    After the two girls left, Jamie once again looked at the council buildings, a small frown causing wrinkles to crease his forehead. 

    Seki sighed and dropped a hand on Jamie's shoulder. "Man, lighten up." 

    Jamie turned and bestowed a chilling look upon his friend. Seki rapidly removed his hand and stepped back a pace. 

    "Hey Jamie," Seki started again. "Look, I know you really like Acee, but I don't think she is interested. And the way you act around her these days . . . " he shook his head. "I think you had better change. You are coming on a bit too possessive, and she doesn't seem to like it." 

    Seki resisted the urge to cringe as Jamie continued to look at him with his cold eyes. Then Jamie turned. Seki slowly backed away as Jamie once again gazed at the council buildings.   
  
* * * * *   


    _Man,_, Seki turned and looked over his shoulder at Jamie. _What is his problem?_ Jamie had been acting weird for the last few months, really weird. Sometimes it seemed as though he was an entirely different person, like now. 

    He wandered over to a withered tree and sat down, thinking about Jamie. He had always stood out from the rest of them. Seki was the closest friend he had. They had both shown up at the Stronghold within a year of each other, and they were both loners. But, somehow, they had gotten together. 

    Seki thought back. More than three years ago he and the small group of people he had been living with had been brought to the Stronghold by Johji and Arial. He would never forget the day he first met them, or what he had seen. 

    Seki had been sixteen, and the main food gatherer for the small group of survivors he lived with. One spring day, as he was returning to his camp, he had been attacked by a hydra. 

    There was no way he could flee or defend him self. It was too big, too fast, and too hungry. And he, he wasn't ashamed to say, was too frightened to do anything. He had frozen in place, and had waited for the end to come. He had hoped it would be fast. He prayed it would be painless. It had never came. 

    A bright light appeared in the sky above, distracting the hydra and causing him to shield his eyes. A dark blur appeared between him and the hydra. A brilliant flash of steel in front of him and a splash of crimson blood through the air, and the next thing he knew, a man in dark armor was standing before him, a no-dachi clutched in his hands. Behind the warrior was the headless body of the hydra, its dark blood seeping into the parched ground. 

    Then, to his amazement, a young girl, glowing with a golden light, floated down from the sky to stand next to the warrior. Seki had done the only thing he felt he could do at the moment. He fainted into a limp heap before his rescuers. 

    He had came to a while later, with the girl sitting in attendance. She had smiled at him, and asked what he was doing out in the wilderness. 

    Seki stood up and arched his back. 

    Johji had invited him and his people to come with him and Arial, to a place they would be safe. They had agreed and he and his people had been brought to the Stronghold. His people had told him how fortunate it was that he had ran across the couple. He hadn't told his people what had happened, or seen. 

    After being at the Stronghold for several weeks, he had started to nose around. It was common knowledge that nine warriors in magic armor protected the people living here; but that did not explain what he had seen. Arial, she had no armor, but she had been glowing bright enough to rival the sun from his childhood. She had also floated down from the sky like an angel. 

    It took him several months to find out. The wearers of the nine yoroi were not the only defenders of the Stronghold. There were three other members of the Council who did not wear the magical yoroi. They did have armors, but not many knew that the magic was their own. 

    Hashiba Touma, Mouri Shin, and Rei Fuan Shu. These three men could control elemental magic. And Arial was their dearly loved niece. 

    Seki started toward the training grounds. 

    Jamie had shown up several months later with a small band of refugees from Osaka. Not too long after his arrival, Mouri and Hashiba had been killed in a battle that had not gone as planned. Things had been going downhill since then. 

    _And Jamie doesn't seem to mind one bit._

    This just might be conjuncture. He might be wrong. _But,_ his eyes narrowed, _do I take such a chance? What if I am wrong? What if I am right?_

    He needed to talk to someone, and he had the perfect person in mind. He approached one of the guards at the training ground. "Where can I find Rei Fuan?"   
  
* * * * *   


    Silently Arial entered Lady Kayura's inner sanctum, slipping her shoes off and leaving them outside the door. "Aunt Kayura? Are you here?" She closed the door behind her. The room was totally dark. "Aunt Kayura?" 

    A candle sprang to life to her left, causing her to jerk slightly from surprise. Then one sprang to life at her right. Several more candles lit themselves from various positions in the room. Sitting in the center of the room was Lady Kayura. 

    "Come." Arial walked over to her and sank to the floor. 

    Arial lowered her head. "I apologies for being so late . . . " 

    "No Child, there is no need." Lady Kayura lifted Arial's head and met her eyes. "You wish to spend time with your friends. You will never see them again, and you want memories you can store in your heart." Kayura's eyes darkened with suppressed emotion. "This I understand." 

    "A-Aunt Kayura?" Arial started to lift a hand, to reach out to the other woman in comfort. Lady Kayura shook her head. 

    "Arial, I will now set your task to you. You are to go back in time, before the Shadow Lords, and prevent them from taking our world. It will not be an easy task, but you must do it." 

    "Hai. How am I to accomplish this? How is this possible? Time travel?" 

    "Curious as always, aren't you?" Arial flushed. "No harm. Years ago, not long after your father died, Touma became obsessed with the idea of, not defeating the Shadow Lords, but to prevent the war before it began. He studied and researched for many years before he found out how to accomplish such a feat." A tear rolled down Lady Kayura's cheek. "He told me where I could find his research before he died." 

    "So," Arial whispered softly to herself, "You knew all this years ago." 

    "No," Arial looked up at the sharp voice. "We still did not know how to defeat them. We did not know how they accomplished the feat of combining our two worlds. Until now." 

    Arial gazed at Lady Kayura intently as she continued. "You know that Shu, Rajura and I have been going out on secret missions." Arial nodded. "We were seeking answers. We found a way to gain access to the Shadow Fortress, and last week, we found what we were looking for." 

    "Five objects of power, five mystical statues. These are the keys to the Shadow Lords defeat. These statues are what the Shadow Lords used to bind our world to theirs." 

    "Five statues." Lady Kayura nodded. "But how am I to get a hold of them. If the Shadow Lords have them . . . " 

    Lady Kayura held up a hand to quiet Arial. "But, years ago, they did not. I remember one of the statues from my childhood. It stood in a temple in my home village, well over four hundred years ago. It remained on Earth after Arago killed my people and kidnapped me. The Shadow Lords had to have acquired it at a later date." 

    "Then if they had to search out the statues," Arial's eyes narrowed as her mind rapidly raced. Things were starting to make sense to her. "So should I, correct?" 

    Lady Kayura almost smiled. "You are correct. We will send you back to a time before the Shadow Lords found the statues. . . " 

    "When was that?" Arial broke in. 

    "I-I don't know exactly." Arial gave Lady Kayura a nervous look. That did not sound good. "The statues' power would have vanished from the Earth when the Shadow Lords took them. It is something I will be able to sense in the time stream. I will send you to a time prior to that happening." 

    "But, Aunt Kayura, how will I find them. I don't know what they look like." 

    "That will not be a problem. Close your eyes." 

    Arial gave her a nervous look, again, and then hesitantly closed her eyes. A moment later she felt a feather soft touch on her brow. There was a faint ringing in her ears, the sound of chimes. 

    "There." Arial blinked blurrily. "You will know them, and when the time is right, you will know how to destroy them." 

    _I will? Oh, I hate it when she says things like this!_! 

    "Arial . . . " 

    She jerked her head up. "Nani?" 

    "I know how hard this task is. I thought long and hard before deciding it was the only course of action we could take. That you agreed to do this . . . your father would be proud of you." 

    "Yes," Arial lowered her head. She was proud of the fact that there was no tremor in her voice. Her eyes filled with hot tears that she refused to shed. "I know."   
  
* * * * *   


    A week later, Arial was once again in Lady Kayura's sanctum. This time she and Kayura were not the only people present. 

    Shu and the rest of the yoroi wearers were present in full armor, getting ready according to Lady Kayura's instructions. Four small braziers had been set in each of the four corners of the room. An elaborate diagram had been drawn on the floor. 

    She had no idea what it was for. Arial hadn't a chance to ask, but she assumed it was important. 

    Either that, or Lady Kayura had drawn it just to pass the time. 

    While Lady Kayura was giving individual instructions to everyone, Arial sat on the floor out of everyone's' way, just outside the diagram. Next to her was a small bag that held all her treasures. She was not going anywhere, or when, without them. The few items in the bag would be all that she had left of her world. 

    "Arial, are you ready?" 

    Nodding, Arial looked up at Rajura. He held out a hand, and helped her to her feet. 

    "Are we almost ready?" 

He nodded. "As soon as Kayura is." Both turned to Lady Kayura. She was talking to Shu. Both of them had grave expressions on their face. 

    "What are they talking about Uncle?" 

    Rajura momentarily looked away from her. "Nothing that concerns you." 

    Shu nodded and walked away from Lady Kayura to stand near the door. She lifted the long skirt of her robes with one hand. Kaosu's shakujo was in her other hand. 

    "Arial, are you ready?" 

    She swallowed nervously and nodded. No, she would never be ready for this. "Yes, lets hurry up and get this over with, before I die of nerves." 

    Nizou laughed softly and Arial glared at him. 

    Something unspoken passed between Lady Kayura and Rajura. Before Arial had a chance to figure out what it meant, Lady Kayura brought the end of the shakujo down on the floor. 

    A chiming sound filled the air, and the fires in the braziers flared up. 

    "Take your places!" 

    Each of the yoroi wearers went to stand in the diagram. As the stopped, Arial noticed they were each standing on the kanji that each armor represented. 

    "The center, Arial." 

    She nodded and silently made her way to the center of the diagram. The nine wearers were standing at certain points of the diagram, the four season yoroi at the compass points and the five elemental yoroi in a loose circle inside, surrounding her. Lady Kayura stood in front of her. 

    She brought the end of the shakujo down on the floor again, and brought her other hand up to her face. She began to chant. 

    Her soft voice filled the room. 

    As Arial watched in fascination, she never got tired of watching her perform magic, the diagrams on the floor began to glow. A moment later the nine yoroi began to glow as well. 

    _Amazing_. 

    The glowing diagrams seemed to take to flame, and unseen breezes teased these flames. 

    _This is incredible!_ Arial glanced around the circle. Everyone's eyes were closed, and each person was enveloped in mystical fire. _I had no idea she could do something like this_. 

    Shu watched the ceremony with mixed emotions. He knew this was necessary. That this was the Earth's only hope. But he hated the fact that little Arial had to be the one to carry it out. He wanted what was best for her, and saving her from sure death in the future by sending her to a questionable past was not something he was easy with. 

    He shivered. It had gone cold. Strange. It was a warm day, and the sanctum never grew cold. His head jerked up. _Idiot!_ he castrated himself. He tried to move. It was like swimming in molasses. Shu glanced down. A black shadowy mass had encompassed him. 

    "Well, it looks like you fail, for the last time." 

    Shu jerked his head toward the now open door. Jamie stood in the doorway, a sword in his hands and an unfamiliar look on his face. 

    "The guards you placed outside, they were good." Smiling, he brought up the sword so Shu could see that the steel was streaked with red on. "Just not good enough." Jamie looked away from Shu. "Lady Kayura! Stop!" 

    The chanting stopped. Jamie walked into the room. "Just what is it you have planned here, Lady. Are you sending Acee away, too someplace safe maybe?" She did not answer. 

    "Jamie," Arial frowned at her friend. The flickers of the mystical flames were casting strange shadows onto his face. "What are you doing?" 

    He smiled at her, and she shivered. This was not the Jamie she knew. 

    "Don't concern yourself Acee, I will personally see that nothing harms you." 

    "But not the rest of us." Jamie turned back to Shu. 

    "No," he said in an almost casually pleasant voice, "not the rest of you. Acee is my only concern. She is coming with me. As for the rest of you," he gave the warriors a derisive sneer, "you will die." He stopped behind Machael, who was the closest, and raised his sword. Shu and the rest watched on helplessly. None of them could move to stop him. 

    A sharp report rang through the room and Jamie dropped his sword. "No, Jamie." 

    Jamie turned around in amazement, a hand on his shoulder. A dark fluid was dripping out of between his fingers. Whatever it was, it wasn't blood as they knew it. "Seki?" 

    Seki stood in the doorway, an old gun held in his shaking hands. Where he had gotten it from, no one knew. "You betrayed us, didn't you?" he whispered. Tears were running down his pale cheeks. He had been afraid of this, but he had hoped, hoped so much that he had been wrong. "You betrayed us to the Shadow Lords." 

    "No." Jamie slowly shook his head as he looked at Seki. "I have betrayed no one." He removed his bloodstained hand from his wounded shoulder and looked at it. "I am sorry about this, more than you could ever know, but . . ." Jamie brought up his hand, palm out. "I cannot let you stop me," and released a wave of dark energy at his friend. 

    Seki gave a startled gasp as the energy blast hit him in the chest. He dropped the gun as he was violently flung out of the door and into the hallway. His limp body hit the wall with a dull thud, and then crumpled onto the floor. 

    Arial watched the proceedings in shocked horror. All she could do was stare at the limp form of her friend, blood oozing out of his parted lips, dripping onto his leg . . . 

    "Now," Jamie once again raised his hand, this time aiming at Machael, "time to finish this." 

    Arial slowly shook her head. _No . . ._

    "NO!" 

    The earth trembled, and Shu ripped free of his bindings. Jamie frowned at him. 

    "You have to go through me first." Shu growled. 

    An evil smile came to his face. "My pleasure, Rei Fuan. I missed out on the killing of your two friends years ago. I will enjoy killing you." 

    ::_Kayura, while he is distracted. Send Arial away!_:: 

    Kayura, tears in her eyes, nodded at Shu's silent command. She knew what was about to happen. Arial was indeed their last chance. Softly the chanting started again. 

    Jamie struck Shu with a wave of energy. 

    Tears ran down Arial's cheeks as she watched. 

    The brass rings of the shakujo started to spin and ring of their own accord, filling the air with pure sound. 

    Jamie turned toward Lady Kayura, his lips curled into a snarl. 

    Shu painfully crawled to his feet. Blood was trickling down the side of his face and one of his arms hung limply at his side. 

    Jamie raised his hand once again. 

    Shu jumped at Jamie, knowing that this would be the end for him. 

    The ringing grew louder. 

    The nine yoroi became pillars of flame. 

    Shu limply crashed into the wall, not to rise again. 

    The ringing became deafening. 

    "NOOOOO!!!!!" Arial screamed out and tried to move. 

    The world grew dark, and everything vanished.   
  
(To be continued . . . ) 


	2. Of Hope and Tears

A PRESENT FUTURE   
CHAPTER 2: OF HOPE AND TEARS   
by SHIN-CHAN   


    Arial rolled over onto her back, a light sheen of sweat breaking out on her skin. "Nooo . . . " she moaned in her sleep. Once again she watched as Jamie, her friend Jamie for goodness sakes! kill Seki, then Shu. "No. Please. STOP!!" She jerked up suddenly, breathing heavily. 

    _A dream._ Without opening her eyes she rested her head on her drawn up knees. _A nightmare. Nothing happened Arial. He didn't kill anyone. No one died. I just imagined it all; with the stress of everything lately my mind is overacting. When I open my eyes, everything will be as it always is._

    When she was a small child it had been a common ritual she preformed after horrible nightmares. Her mother would always know when she was having a nightmare, and would come to her room to hold her, telling her that everything was alright, that she just had to open her eyes and see for herself. Over the years, after the Devastation, she would do this on occasion, just to feel the phantom arms of her mother around her. The nightmares she woke from now were always horribly real. 

    She slowly opened her eyes, and froze. "No, this can't be." She squeezed her eyes shut. "I am in my chamber. I am in my chamber. Everything is normal," she chanted in a shaking voice. She opened her eyes again. The scene before her hadn't changed. 

    "I have to be dreaming still," she whispered. That was the only explanation. There was no way for what she was seeing to be real. It was impossible. 

    She was sitting under a cherry tree, one in bloom. It was spring. The sweet fragrance wrapped itself around her, reminding her of pleasant occasions from her childhood. A delicate pink petal floated down and came to rest on the back of her hand. She reached out and picked it up, rubbing it gently between her fingers. It was smooth and warm. Real. 

    The air was filled with other scents of spring, she realized. It had been so long since she had smelt the sweet scent of the grass; the combined fragrance of many flowers in bloom; that unique scent of the earth coming to life, of life beginning. Above her the sky was a beautiful shade of blue, a blue she hadn't seen for years. Soft white clouds danced high in the sky, heading for lands unknown, not sparing a passing thought to what lied on the earth below. 

    "Oh God, where am I? Did it work? Did Aunt Kayura send me here?" 

    "In a way." 

    Arial spun around, landing on her hands and knees as she faced a strange young man not too much older than her walking toward her. He was dressed strangely, she had never seen cloths like his, and he had long red hair that fluttered softly in the faint breeze. 

    He stopped and sat on a large rock ten feet away from her. "Lady Kayura sent you to the past. I redirected you here." 

    She swallowed nervously. Had she been caught by one of the Shadow Lords? "And who are you?" she asked warily. 

    His lips twitched into a slight smile. "Cautious? That is good. I am Shuten, once the Oni Ma Sho." 

    The blood drained out of Arial's face. "S-Shuten? But, but you died. Years and years ago. The Lady Kayura . . . " 

    Shuten nodded. ". . .now wears the Oni yoroi, yes I know. Please seat yourself. There are things that I must tell you." 

    Keeping a close eye on him, Arial slowly sat cross-legged on the ground. He nodded to himself. 

    "I redirected you here to give you some information you will need, and to give you something that you will find useful in your quest." The smile faded, replaced by a serious look. "I am very sorry about what happened to your family. I always have held great respect for the Samurai Troopers, and it pains me that they could not live the lives they wished." Tears welled in Arial's eyes at the sincerity in his voice. "You are not going to take too kindly to what I am about to tell you, so please wait until you hear everything before making any judgements." 

    He sighed and then started. "Everything that has happened in the world, to your present point in time, was meant to occur." Arial opened her mouth to argue, but Shuten held up his hand to forestall her. "Listen. What happened in your past had to occur, to give the future a chance." Arial blinked at him in confusion. "All those events lead up to one point, and to one person. Arial," she jerked her head up. "That person is you." 

    "What?" she whispered. 

    "The past you lived had to occur. The Shadow Lords' attack during your childhood was unavoidable. I am sure that Lady Kayura told you that finding and destroying the five statues before they fell into the hands of the Shadow Lords shall be the only way to prevent the horrors you grew up with. That is correct. She told you were the only one capable of going back in time." Arial nodded. "That is also correct. What she didn't know, what she could not have known, was that you are the only one capable of destroying the statues. The one who was always meant to destroy them. That is why you were born; why you lived the life you lived. It is, was always, your destiny." 

    "You mean, all those people who died, died because of me?" she whispered in a low, horrified voice. "My friends? My family?" All those millions of millions of people? She closed her eyes as a sharp pain in her chest threatened to overwhelm her. So much death and pain and suffering. All because of her . . . "Nooo . . . " she moaned, curling onto herself. 

    "ARIAL!" Shuten said sharply. She had to stay focused! "Listen please, the future you lived in, those who lived and died in it, that is the fate of the earth unless you fulfill your destiny. You were born to give everyone a chance to live, as you are the only one who knows what the future holds. All those lives, the world itself, rest in your hands." 

    "Why are you telling me this?" She lifted her face to look at him; tears were running down her cheeks. Considering everything that had already happened to her, this was almost more than she could bear. "Why do I need to hear this?" 

    "You need to know how important you are, how important your task is to understand it. You must not allow anything to come between you and what you must do." 

    Arial took a deep breath and rubbed her arm across her eyes. "Anything else?" she asked flatly. 

    He looked at her for a moment; then lowered his head so he could no longer see her pain-clouded eyes. "Yes," he sighed. What he was about to do to the child . . . The pain he was unwittingly going to cause her . . . "You will find it very painful in the past. You will encounter things you never expected, and see that which you thought lost forever. You will have to remember who you are, and where you come from, or you will destroy yourself." She nodded; confused at what he said, and hoping it would make some sort of sense in the future. 

    "Now I have something for you." He motioned for her to look behind her. She turned, and froze. 

    A huge white tiger was approaching them, holding something in his mouth. "That is Byakuen, isn't it?" She turned to Shuten, eyes huge and round. "Uncle Ryo told me about him, and how he disappeared during the Devastation." 

    A low grumble came from behind her and she spun back around. Byakuen was standing three feet from her. He lowered his head and released the object, a sword, onto the petal littered grass before her and backed away. 

    "That is for you. A young warrior has needs of a worthy weapon." 

    She reached out and picked it up. She glanced up at Shuten before she pulled the sword out of its sheath. The blade glowed brightly for a moment, a warm silver glow that warmed her throughout, then faded. She held it aloft and studied it. It was incredibly light, almost no weight at all. The metal itself was unfamiliar to her, sort of like the metal the nine yoroi was made of, but not. It was smooth, with a plain golden hilt. Arial turned it back and forth in front of her, and watched as it gleamed in the bright sunlight. 

    "There are properties to the sword that you will have to learn in the future," Shuten informed her as she studied the sword she held. "It is now time for you to return to the real world." 

    Arial blinked at him. _The real world?_

    The cherry blossom petals swirled up around her from where they were resting on the grass, blocking her view of Shuten. There was a ringing sound, and then everything disappeared.   
  
* * * * *   


    Komiya Kazuko silently watched the young man patiently sitting in the middle of the room in front of him. He had insisted that his grandson train under him in the shinobi method of the Shiroi Kaze after he had seen troubling signs in the stars of an impeding doom several years ago. His grandson, his youngest daughter's only son, had been reluctant to learn the ways of the shinobi, being a peaceful child with a gentle heart. Then late last spring, for reasons still unknown to Kazuko, Shin had agreed. 

    Shin sat quietly, waiting for his grandfather to tell him why he had been summoned. His grandfather was the head of the Komiya shinobi clan, which was loyal to the Mouri clan. Long ago, it had been common for shinobi daughters to marry into the Mouri clan, as protection for their husbands from enemies. What was unusual was training a member of the Mouri in the way of the shinobi. 

    Not long after they had given up their yoroi, Shin's grandfather had come to him, telling him that it would be wise for him to learn the ways of his mother's people. He had declined. He no longer wanted to fight. For the first time since his coming of age, he was free of the heavy responsibility of guarding the world. His grandfather told him it was important, that a dark cloud of impending doom was sitting over the horizon. That he would need this knowledge in the future. Still Shin refused. Then Suzunagi came. 

    They, the Samurai Troopers, had thought their fight was over with the destruction of the Shiroi Kikoutei and the Kuroi Kikoutei. That their lives were now theirs again. They had been wrong. She had come for them, seeking revenge for what she thought the yoroi had cost her, and in the end she had left them with a new purpose, new yoroi, and the discovery of abilities they never knew they had. They were once again protectors of the earth. 

    Afterwards, after some soul searching, Shin had agreed to train under his grandfather. He was so insistent, and Shin was beginning to believe that there was indeed something dark in their future. 

    "Grandson," Shin looked up. "I can teach you no more. The darkness that I saw, it shall soon envelope the earth. You must be there to halt it." Kazuko lowered his head. "This past year, you learned much. You take to the way of the shinobi as you do to the sea, but your destiny lies elsewhere, as does your heart. Seek that path. For only then will you find your future." 

    Shin bowed down. "Hai." 

    Kazuko reached down and picked up a small item wrapped in a glimmery blue silk. He held it out to Shin. "This is for you to use in the time ahead. Use it with honor." 

    Shin took the offered item and unwrapped it. Under the silk was a sheathed tanto engraved with the crests of the Komiya and the Mouri on its hilt. It had to have been specially made. It signified that he belonged to both clans, and that he was both Mouri and shinobi. He slid it into his kimono and bowed down to his grandfather. "I will not dishonor it Grandfather." 

    Kazuko inclined his head to Shin, then stood up. "It is still early yet. You have time to visit your mother and sister and her family before you leave for Tokyo." With that, Shin's grandfather left the room. 

    Shin slowly got to his feet and walked to the sliding doors and opened them. He stepped out onto the covered deck overlooking the Hagi Sea. So much had changed over the years. He reached into his kimono and pulled out the tanto. Slowly he unsheathed it. The blade shone silver in the muted spring light, like moonlight on the waves of the sea at night. With a quick thrust, he sheathed it and walked away.   
  
* * * * *   


    "Ohhh . . . " Arial placed a hand to her head. There was a dull aching throb behind her eyes that was slowly fading. "That was not a good trip, not at all." Slowly she sat up and rubbed her temples. Then she remembered. 

    She snapped open her eyes and looked around. "Nani?" She was still sitting under the cherry tree. It was still spring. "What happened?" Slowly she got to her feet and started to look around. "This is the same. Wasn't Shuten going to send me back? Maybe he . . . Oh my . . . " She lifted her head and looked up, and up. Rising high in the sky behind the cherry tree was a huge building, a skyscraper of shining metal and glass. 

    "No way!" she gasped out. "This can't be right!" Arial spun around. She was in a little park surrounded by tall buildings, undamaged, tall buildings. "Where did he send me?!" 

    Several people dressed in suits and an assortment of casual cloths gave Arial a leery look and quickly walked past her. 

    She bit her lip and thought of what to do now. "First thing first," she murmured to herself. "I need to find out where and when I am. Then I'll figure out what to do." Taking a deep breath, Arial reached down and grabbed her bag and swung it over her shoulder. Then she walked to the path. She did not notice how strange she looked in comparison to the other pedestrians, dressed in a pair of dark green pants with a flowing black Chinese style tunic. 

    When she reached the edge of the park, she froze at the sight before her. So much noise, so many people, so much activity. Cars and trucks whizzed past on the busy road in front of her, it seemed that there were hundreds of people walking on the sidewalks on either side of the road, hurrying on their way to work or shopping, or to wherever they were headed. It was quite a shock to Arial, who hadn't seen such things since she was a small child with her parents. She stiffly stepped back into the park and collapsed on a nearby bench, overwhelmed. 

    "There are so many people! So many." She took several deep breaths, trying to calm herself from the unexpected claustrophobia she felt by being surrounded by so many people. This was unexpected and unplanned for. When she and Aunt Kayura had talked about searching for the statues in the past, both assumed that she would travel back to the Civil War era, or not long after. The idea that she would be sent to what looked to be the late 20th century had entered neither of their minds. 

    "Oh, what to do?" she murmured fretfully. This was not something she had been prepared for. Her world of the future was so different, she was better suited for the time that she thought she was going to than this world. She nervously looked around, and her eyes came to rest on a wastepaper basket at the far edge of the bench. Her curiosity instantly stirred, she slid over and picked up the discarded newspaper on the top. 

    "Maybe I can learn something from this." At least it would provide a way to calm her nerves. She had always found reading relaxing. Despite the bold headlines on the top of the paper, the first thing that drew her attention was the date in the corner. 

    1992, April 23.   
  
* * * * *   


    Ryo and Touma watched as Shu slammed down the phone. He turned to them, a scowl darkening his normally pleasant face. 

    "Nothing," he told them as he approached. "All I got was the stupid answering machine." The scowl was then quickly replaced with a worried look. "I have no idea where he could be." 

    The three of them started to walk down the street. "And he said nothing to you last night?" Ryo questioned. 

    Shu rapidly shook his head. "No. Not a word." 

    "He didn't attend any of his classes today," Touma said softly as he thought it through. "He is not at his apartment, he didn't go to Nasutei's, and he left no word with anyone that something was wrong." 

    "Nothing strange has happened since last spring." They turned a corner and Ryo looked up at the city hall building. "At least nothing that I know of." 

    "Maybe Seiji has heard something." Touma looked around. The five of them had planned on meeting here after their college classes were out. Seiji was standing across the street talking to a young American girl near his own age. "Oh no, not again," he murmured tiredly. Ryo and Shu looked across the street. 

    They watched as the young girl shook her head, her wavy shoulder length blond hair flying charmingly. Seiji scowled at her, she glared back. There was a short exchange of softly spoken words, then the girl sharply spun around and marched to a dark car with diplomatic plates that was waiting for her. Seiji watched the car leave; then rubbed his temples. 

    "Isn't that the third time this year?" Shu softly questioned as they walked across the street to meet Seiji. 

    "No, the fifth," Touma speared Shu with a speaking look. "And don't bring it up. I don't want to know what silly thing they are fighting about this time." 

    "Yeah," Ryo nodded. "They'll ignore each other, and then they'll be back together next week. Asking what is wrong this time will be a waste of breath." Ryo raised his arm and waved. "Hi Seiji!" 

    Seiji looked up. "Hello." He looked at his watch. "You are late. I was expecting you ten minutes ago." 

    "We were tryin' to track down Shin." Shu crossed his arms and grumpily leaned against a light pole. "Have you heard anything?" 

    Seiji shook his head. "No." Before Seiji could ask why they were trying to track Shin down, as Shin knew where to meet them, a cheerful voice called out from behind. 

    "Hi everyone." 

    The four teenagers spun around in shocked surprise. Sitting on the brick wall behind them was Shin, a welcoming smile on his face. 

    "Jesh, where did you come from?!" Shu exclaimed, a hand over his chest. No one had been there a moment ago, he was sure! "We have been tryin' to find you all day." 

    "Hagi." Shin's friends gave him a collection of startled looks. 

    "You went all the way to Hagi and back today? Why? Did something happen to your mother?" 

    Shin pushed himself off the wall. "My grandfather just wanted to speak to me. He called me early this morning." 

    Ryo arched an eyebrow. "And was it important?" 

    Shin shrugged, not wanting to tell them what really happened. He hadn't told them what he had been learning from his grandfather. He knew that they wouldn't approve of his decision, especially Ryo and Seiji. "He thought so." He looked up at the city hall, his eyes darkening. "Remember what I told you that he thinks that there is some sort of darkness out there?" They nodded. "He thinks it will be arriving soon." 

    "Do you believe him?" Seiji asked. 

    Shin turned away from the building, where they had confronted Suzunagi the year before, and nodded. "Yes, I do. Can't you feel it, just on the edge of your perceptions?" Seiji and the others nodded. They could feel something, but none of them knew what it was, just that it was not good. 

    They all looked up at the city hall one last time, then they walked away. 

    "Anything interesting happen while I was gone?" Shin asked lightly. 

    Shu shook his head. "Just the usual. Boring classes, lectures, homework, that kind of stuff." 

    "Anything else?" 

    Ryo, Shu and Touma all shook their heads as they glanced at Seiji. Shin's eyes opened wide with comprehension. 

    "Okay," Shin hastily replied as he realized what the looks implied. He did not want to get involved with the latest problem in Seiji's love life. "That means that we can grab a movie and head straight to Nasutei's." 

    "That is right." Shu rubbed his hands together gleefully. "There is this new Jackie Chan I have been dyin' to see . . . " 

    "No," Seiji turned to Shu. "No Jackie Chan. No Bruce Lee. We are going to get something we all want to watch." 

    "Which would be . . . " 

    Everyone was silent. 

    "We will see once we get to the video store," Touma told them. "Then we will decide what to watch." 

    "We are going to be there all night," Shu promised. 

    Shin smiled at him. "Only if you make it difficult." 

    They turned down a side street. Partway down the street, at the mouth of an alley, was a small crowd. 

    Ryo frowned. "What is going on there?" They quickly approached. 

    Before they reached the alley, the small crowd, mostly made up of high school and college age teens, scattered. The body of a young man in a black leather jacket flew out onto the sidewalk and landed with a dull thud on his back. Several more gang members hastily backed out of the alley, away from their attacker. 

    Shu whistled softly. "Someone is taking on the Thunder Ryu? This I gotta to see." The crowd backed away even more, giving the Troopers room to watch. 

    A young teenage girl with a long blond braid walked out of the alley dressed in Chinese cloths, an old worn daypack tossed over one shoulder, and a small calico tortoiseshell kitten in her hand. She ignored the crowd, her attention focused on the five young men she had attacked. 

    The gang members warily watched her as she sat the daypack down. "How could you be so cruel?" The girl asked as she gently stroked the kitten's nose. "It is an innocent baby." 

    "It is a stupid cat," one of the boys growled. "A stray. It is better off dead." 

    A cold look entered the girl's purple eyes. "Maybe so are you." The five young men tensed up as she bent down and placed the little kitten in her bag. Then she stood up and walked toward them, her arms held slightly away from her sides. "If you want the kitten, you have to go through me." 

    "That is a good way to commit suicide," Ryo whispered. "We should stop her." The others nodded their agreement and Ryo took a step forward. 

    A hand reached out and clasped his shoulder. "I wouldn't get involved if I were you." Ryo spun around. It was a friend of his from school, Furuya. "That girl can take care of herself." 

    "But . . . " he looked back. The girl stood not much taller than five feet, if that, and she was delicately built. His eyes narrowed as he studied the girl. Her stance. All of her weight was balanced on the balls of her feet. Her eyes were flickering from one boy to the other, watching them, judging them. This girl knew what she was doing. 

    One of the men looked back at his unconscious friend, then at the girl who was all but daring them to attack. "Okay bitch, you asked for it!" 

    He lunged at her, striking at her neck with his hand. She easily drew back and grabbed his arm, spinning around so they were back to back. "Reckless move," she told him and then threw him to the ground, hard. Then the other four attacked. 

    She jumped high into the air, impossibly high, flipped, and landed behind them. Before they could react, she had laid one out with a kick in the kidneys, and another with an abrupt chop to the back of his neck. That left two standing. 

    One of them smiled evilly, and drew out a knife. The other pulled out a pair of nunchuku from under his jacket and started to spin them. The crowd gasped. The girl just shook her head in regret as the one with the knife attacked. 

    She dodged the first thrust, and quickly danced around him. He turned the other way, hoping to catch her off guard. She grabbed his wrist, and then brought her other hand down on it. The sound of his arm bones breaking was clearly audible to the watching crowd. The young man gasped, all the blood draining out of his face. His eyes rolled up, and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious. With a yell, the last gang member attacked, swinging his nunchuku in the air above him. 

    The girl spun around, leaped in the air over her attacker, catching one of the nunchuku with one hand as she did so. When she landed, she grabbed it with her other hand and brought her arms down in front of her, throwing the last one over her and into the wall. 

    Everyone was silent. In less than five minutes, this girl had taken out five members of one of the more dangerous street gangs of Shinjuku. In the distance one could hear the faint sound of police sirens. 

    Without looking at anyone, the girl let go of the nunchuku and walked over to her bag. She picked it up and swung it over her shoulders, preparing to leave. 

    "Stop!" A police officer rushed up, out of breath from his run across the street, a hand on his gun. "Don't move." The girl stared at him curiously, her head slightly tilted to one side. One of the men moaned, drawing attention back to them. 

    Seiji and Shin pushed their way through the small crowd and Seiji knelt next to the nearest one. He checked the man's pulse, then ran his hand over the man's broken arm. His fingers encountered something warm and sticky. He lifted his hand and looked at it. There was blood on his fingers. "Compound fracture," he stated calmly as he pulled out a handkerchief to wrap around the man's upper arm to cut of the flow of blood. "Has someone called for an ambulance?" 

    Shin had knelt down to the next young man, the one that had came sailing out of the alley when they walked up. He wasn't moving. Shin checked his pulse. It was weak and erratic. His breathing was shallow and labored. A thin trickle of blood was dripping out of the man's mouth, signifying an internal injury. Shin quickly opened his shirt and gasped. The young man's right rib cage was discolored. He could even see the mark left by the girl's heel where she had struck the rib cage. Shin lightly ran his fingers over it. He could feel the broken ribs underneath the bruised skin. He turned and looked at the young girl in shock, and received another one. 

    She was staring at him; eyes opened wide in disbelief and, despair? Her face had gone pale, as though she had seen a ghost. She swallowed hard and glanced over at Seiji. Her eyes grew wider, and if possible she had turned even paler. 

    Ryo, Touma, and Shu had stepped to the front of the crowd and were now staring at the girl. 

    "What is with her?" Shu questioned lightly. The girl slowly turned at the sound of his voice and stared at him. A hand slowly crept up in to cover her mouth, and she began to shake her head in denial. She started to slowly step back into the alley. 

    The officer pulled out his gun and pointed it at the girl. "I said, don't move!" She ignored him. All of her attention, and her horror filled eyes, were focused on the five Troopers. 

    Before anyone could do anything else, she spun around and bolted down the alley. The officer fired one shot at her, missing her by a hair. 

    "Damn!" Touma raced after the girl, with Ryo and Shu coming up behind him. 

    _Fast! She is so fast!_ Touma was running full out, and he was unable to gain any distance on her. The good thing was that she was unable to pull further ahead of him. Ryo and Shu were nearly a half a block behind them. She turned a corner and he followed. 

    _Dead end._ Touma noted as he looked ahead. _I got you now!_ The girl continued to race down the alley, seemingly oblivious to the fact that there was nowhere to go once she reached the far end. 

    Touma watched as she looked up at the five-story building in front of her, and without hesitation she leaped up. For a moment, he thought she was trying to grab the fire escape, but he was wrong. He almost fell over his own feet in astonishment as he watched her lightly land on the roof's edge. She glanced down at him, staring up at her, and then jumped out of view. 

    Touma immediately jumped up after her, the distance no problem to him. _Who is she? No normal human could do this!_ He landed on the edge of the building and looked around for her. She was gone. "Where did she go? I was right behind her. Damn." He stepped off the ledge and walked across the roof. There was no sign of her on any of the neighboring rooftops. He stopped at the roof access door and tried the knob. Locked. _Great, just great!_ Touma spun around and walked back to the edge of the building. After one last look, he jumped off. 

    Touma landed without a sound next to Ryo and Shu, causing them to jump back in surprise. 

    "What are you doing?!" Ryo demanded. 

    "Where did she go?" Shu asked simultaneously, looking around. 

    Touma blinked owlishly at them, then looked back the way he had came. "Up. She jumped to the roof and got away." 

    "She did what!?" Ryo and Shu exclaimed. 

    Touma turned and looked at his friends, the corner of his mouth twitching in amusement at their reaction. "Interesting, isn't it?"   
  
* * * * *   


    Silence once again prevailed. After several quiet minutes a high-pitched squeak came from the air ventilation unit of the building. One of the metal screens lifted up, and Arial crawled out. She pulled out her bag, and let the screen fall shut behind her. 

    Weakly she leaned back against the screen, eyes closed, taking quick shallow breaths. "No!" she gasped in a broken voice, tears starting to trickle out of between her eyelids and down her still pallid cheeks. "Why?" she wailed in a low, heartbroken voice. "Why?" 

    Arial collapsed, burrowing her face into her knees, and started to cry.   
  
* * * * *   


    Shin watched as the paramedics started to load the Thunder Ryu into the waiting ambulances. All of them were going to the emergency room, two of them in critical condition. The one he had checked had his lung punctured from a broken rib, and the last one the girl had fought had a cracked skull from when he crashed into the wall. 

    Three patrol cars had appeared after the others had chased after the girl. The girl. Shin closed his eyes. The way she had looked at him, at them. So much pain, as though, from the way he saw it, someone had ripped out her heart. He wasn't sure whether he wanted the others to catch up to her or not. 

    Seiji was giving a statement to one of the officers when Touma, Ryo and Shu returned, minus the girl. He gave them a questioning look, and they shook their heads. Two of the police officers walked over to them to take their statements. 

    A fourth car pulled up, a detective's car. Shin watched as the driver's side door opened, and Detective Date stepped out. A feeling of foreboding swept through him. 

    _Oh, this is going to be interesting._

    Seiji had just finished giving his statement when a firm hand fell onto his shoulder. "Seiji-kun, what are you doing here?" Seiji turned at the familiar voice, and looked into his father's dark eyes. 

    "Father," Seiji inclined his head. "I was a witness to this incident. I was giving my statement." 

    Date-san curtly nodded and turned to the officer. "What occurred here?" 

    The officer flipped through his notebook. "From what we can tell Sir, six members of the Thunder Ryu got on the wrong side of a Japanese-American girl who knew how to fight back. Witnesses claim she took out five of them in less than five minutes." Date-san turned to his son. 

    "Seiji-kun, is this correct?" 

    Seiji nodded. "Hai, Father. We arrived as she kicked the first man out of the alley. She challenged them, and they attacked." 

    "And nearly killed them," the young officer commented under his breath. Both of the Dates heard him. 

    "No," Seiji looked up at his father. "She knew exactly what she was doing Father. She was in complete control of the fight. I am sure that if she had wanted to kill them, they would be dead now. I believe she wanted to take them out of action for a while." 

    "She sure did that." Date-san's partner walked up to them. "None of those losers are going to be doing anything for a long while." 

    Date-san clenched his jaw and looked at the gathered crowd. There were over twenty witnesses to this affair. Then his eyes picked out four familiar faces. He turned to Seiji. "I assume your friends saw as much as you did?" 

    "Hai." 

    "Three of them went chasing after her," the detective informed his partner. "Officer Kaigara fired one shot at her as she fled the scene. Those three," he pointed out Ryo, Touma, and Shu. "Chased after her." 

    "Sanada, Hashiba, Mouri, Rei Fuan, get over here!" The four of them walked over to Seiji and his father. "All of you witnessed this?" They nodded. "And you three chased after her, why?" 

    "Someone needed to do something." Ryo told him. 

    "I didn't really think about it." Touma said softly. "She looked ill, and then she ran off. I went after her." 

    "Looked ill, but well enough to get away from three healthy young men." Detective Midori gave them stern looks. "Weren't you afraid of what she might do to you if she had tried to fight you?" 

    "They were in no danger." They turned to Date-san, who was giving them a stern do-as-I-say-or-else look. "You five, head on wherever you were going. Do not, I repeat, do not get any further involved with this. Do not go off looking for this girl. This is a police matter, understand?" They nodded. 

    "Officer Kaigara, I want all the witness reports on my desk by morning, along with any information you can find on this girl. There has to be some record of her somewhere." The five Troopers walked away as Date-san continued to give orders. 

    "How did she get away?" Seiji asked as soon as they stepped around the corner. "I find it hard to believe she could outrun the three of you." 

    "Or," Shin glanced slyly at Shu, his lips twitching as he tried not to smile, "at least two of you." Shu growled threateningly at Shin. 

    Ryo sighed. "You won't believe it."   
  
* * * * *   


    "I don't believe it." Nasutei gave them a searching look. "You have to be kidding." 

    They had gone straight to Nasutei's after leaving the scene. Touma had told Seiji and Shin what had happened in the alley, and they did have a hard time believing it until they thought back to how the girl had fought. No matter how skilled she was; that would not explain the leaps she had preformed, or that she seemed much stronger than normal. 

    Once they reached Nasutei's, they had told her everything that had occurred. 

    "This girl took on six members of the Thunder Ryu, took them all out in minutes, and then escaped from you by jumping onto a five-story building? No one can do that!" 

    "I could." 

    Nasutei turned to Shu. "Yes, _you_ could." She waved her hand around the room, indicating all of them. "Any one of you could, but that is different. You said she wasn't dressed in yoroi, so where did she gain such abilities. People are not normally born with these types of talents." 

    "That is true." They turned to Ryo. "The only other person we have ever encountered who could do what this girl seems capable of is Kayura, and she is in the Youjakai." 

    "What if there were some other survivors of Kaosu's clan?" Shin propped his chin on his hand. "They would have similar abilities as Kayura, one would assume, and they would be here on Earth." 

    "That is a good possibility." Nasutei looked thoughtful. "I will have to check my files and see if I can find any reference to any survivors." 

    "She did remind me a bit of Kayura," Touma mused. 

    Seiji nodded. "Yes, now that you mention it, something about her did strike me as familiar." 

    "The way she moved," Touma continued, "and how she landed from her jumps. Like she learned under the same teacher." 

    "Now that is a comforting thought," Shu grumbled. "I don't suppose there is any way of contacting Kayura to see if she knows anything about this girl?" 

    Ryo shook his head. "Not that I know of. Without the original yoroi, I doubt that we can even teleport to the Youjakai." 

    "And she knows of us." Everyone swung to Shin. "Her reaction," he elaborated. "She became highly upset after she saw us. I think that is why she ran off." 

    "Couldn't it have been because she just realized how badly she had hurt them?" 

    Shin shook his head, disagreeing with Touma's question. "She went pale as soon as she saw Seiji and I. Like she was seeing a ghost." Shin turned to Shu. "Then you spoke, and she turned and saw you three. You saw how she reacted. Her reaction was because of us." 

    "If she is from the Youjakai or a lost descendent of Kaosu she may react in such a manner." Nasutei frowned. "Either way, the police are not going to be able to do anything about her." 

    "And we have no idea where to look for her or why she is here in the first place." Ryo lowered his hand and stroked Byakuen's head. "For all we know, she has gone back to wherever she came from." 

    "It is possible." Nasutei stood up and began walking to the den, then stopped. "Oh, I just remembered. Why did she attack the Thunder Ryu in the first place? Was she trying to cause trouble?" 

    Shu was the one who answered. "From what I heard, they were having some sport with a stray kitten. She came along and decided she didn't like it." 

    Nasutei stared at a moment, her lips twitching, as if to either smile or frown. "She sent six men to the hospital over a kitten?" The Troopers nodded. "Well, she can't be all that bad then." Nasutei left the room, leaving the Troopers sitting in silence. 

    Ryo turned and looked at Shin. "Do you think she may be involved in the darkness your grandfather saw?" 

    Shin shook his head. "I don't know. I just don't know."   


(to be continued . . . ) 


	3. Discovery of a Realization

A PRESENT FUTURE   
CHAPTER 3: DISCOVERY OF A REALIZATION   
by SHIN-CHAN 

Grey clouds passed over Tokyo, a lazy spring day. At Sengoku University the clock tower of the main building struck the hour. The campus was silent; most of the students were in their classes. Only a few students were about, walking from one building to another, their dark blue blazers buttoned high due to the damp breeze. In the distance, toward the east, thunder rumbled. 

* * * * * 

It was late June. Shivering in the cold air, Arial zipped up her baby pink jacket and peered into the sky, up at the low menacing clouds. They were tinged with red, an eerie sight. Flashes of red light danced within the clouds, and a cold wind blew her short wavy hair out of her face. 

She breathed in deeply. Despite all that had happened in the last few months, some things were the same, like the sweet scent of the oncoming rain on the wind. As far as she could tell, it would be raining, and soon. Storms these days were violent and destructive. They would need to find shelter. 

Arial turned around, and instantly her face was full of wind-blown hair. Absently she tucked it behind her ears. On small, silent feet she walked over to the stoic figure sitting on a rock. He was absently staring across the valley, blank eyes seeing nothing. The little girl came to a stop next to him. "Daddy?" Arial took the sleeve of his jacket in her hand and tugged on it. "Daddy?" Arial asked more urgently. Nothing. He was lost in a world of his own making. And it was a world that did not seem to include her. 

Stubbornly she stuck out her bottom lip. Purposely she walked away from him to their small camp. She was a big girl after all; she had just turned five years old. She would do the packing. First she packed her small bag and tied her rolled up blankets to the top. Then she packed her father's bag. It didn't take long. They lost most of their belongings when they had fled from doomed California. Once both bags were ready, she dragged them over to her father. 

He was still staring across the land, oblivious to his surroundings. Arial stared at him for a moment; then placed a cool little hand on his. She looked up into his blank lavender eyes. "Daddy," she pulled on his hand, "we have to go now. Daddy!" 

His head jerked back slightly, as he belatedly realized that he had not been paying attention. "Arial, what is it?" 

"A storm is coming." She looked up at the approaching clouds, and he joined her. "It's going to rain soon." 

"Yes," he murmured softly then smiled down at his daughter. "You are right. And we should be looking for shelter." 

Arial stepped back, allowing her father to see that the bags were packed and ready to go. "I am ready Daddy. I did all the packing." 

He stood up and placed a hand on her golden head. Smiling down at her with a now rare smile, he ruffled her golden hair. "You are such a good child. I don't know what I would do without you." She smiled up at him, her purple eyes shining at the praise. Her father hadn't been paying much attention to her, or anything for that matter, since her mother died. 

Thunder rumbled noisily, all but drowning out ones own thoughts. Red streaky lightning shot across the horizon. "We should be going." 

Her father let his hand slide from her head, and he picked up his bag. Calmly he swung it over his shoulders. "Come Arial, let us leave." 

Arial grabbed her bag and started after her father, struggling to pull her bag over her shoulders as she scrambled to catch up to him . . . 

* * * * * 

"Mew?" 

Arial's eyelids fluttered. "Hmm?" she murmured sleepily. After blinking a couple of times, her surroundings slowly came into focus. Vibrant green leaves against a dark background. She looked around, a bit disoriented. She was sitting in a tall oak tree. Between the branches she saw a low building made of brick. Oh yes, she was on the University's grounds. 

"Oh," she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, "I must have dozed off." In the distance, thunder rumbled. Arial looked eastward, toward the main storm. It was raining on Fujiyama. 

Arial drew up her knees and rested her head upon them. The thunder. That must have triggered it. Her dream. It had been a memory long forgotten, but one she cherished still. 

This had been happening frequently these past two weeks. Ever since she had run across _them_. She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath. Shuten. Damn him to the depths of hell. May his afterlife be cursed for all eternity for what he had done. He knew. From what he had said she knew that he had to have known where he was sending her. He had to have known what she would find, whom she would find . . . 

"Mew!" 

She jerked her head up, startled. She turned and looked to her right and up. Hanging from a branch was her daypack. A small furry face with yellow eyes was staring at her, a cross expression on its feline face. Again it meowed at her. 

At that, a soft smile played across Arial's lips. "Ah, so it was you who woke me Haato." She smoothly stood up and walked the short distance to the bag, balancing on the branch with no problem for her. The kitten quickly climbed out of the bag as she approached. Arial reached forward and picked him up, cuddling him under her chin. Haato began to purr happily. 

"Got tired of watching me sleep, hmmm?" Fondly she snuggled her face in his sweet-smelling fur, then let him climb onto her shoulder. Once her hands were free, she pulled her bag down and shrugged it on. 

She turned her head slightly and looked down at the kitten. "Best if we were leaving now, shh shh." Haato rubbed against her face, then crawled back into the bag. When she knew he was safe inside, she leaped out of the tree and lightly landed on the ground below. 

Earlier that morning, when she first arrived on the campus, she had quickly realized that there would be no way she could walk around freely during her search. Not without drawing unwanted attention to herself. All the students were wearing dark blue uniforms, and she was wearing a T-shirt with a long sleeved mens shirt thrown over it and a pair of jeans. She would be too conspicuous. 

After realizing this, she went through her options. She only had two that she would consider. She could borrow one of the uniforms, like she had the cloths she was wearing, and then go about freely without a worry. The problem with that idea was that she would have to take the uniform off of one of the students. Arial had taken the clothing she was currently wearing from various clotheslines. Her second option was to wait until the campus was relatively clear of students, then go exploring. Arial had decided the second was the best option. She would wait until the students were engaged in their studies, then go looking. After all, how many places could the statue be? 

She had awoken that morning with the knowledge that it was here, in Tokyo. A faint gripping sensation in her chest, squeezing her heart, a strange tingling sensation running through her blood had awoken her early that morning. After several frightening moments of not knowing what was happening to her, she remembered what her aunt had told her. She had gotten dressed, and took to the rooftops, eventually arriving at the University. Now all she had to do was search the campus, and the first statue would be hers. 

Arial glanced around, getting her bearings. She silently nodded to herself. North. The statue was toward the north, and not too far away. With determined strides, she headed toward the statue. 

* * * * * 

The fire alarm unexpectedly went off twenty minutes into the third period at the Collage of History and Mythology. Nasutei immediately sat her text down and walked to the door, her freshmen class watching her intently. They knew that no fire safety tests had been scheduled for today. 

There was quite a bit of noise outside the door, quite chatter, shuffling feet. Nasutei slid open the door and glanced out. The hallway was full of students evacuating the building. 

"Class," she turned and faced them. "Gather your belongings and quietly exit the building. Class is over." 

A quiet shuffling filled the class as the students quickly gathered their belongings and exited the class, joining the throng of students already in the hall. The last student to leave the class was Touma. 

"Nasutei," he said in a low voice as they walked down the hall together. "Something is wrong." 

She gave him a fond smile. Trust Touma to state the obvious. "Touma, the fire alarm went off. Everyone is exiting the building. That is a sure sign that something is wrong." 

"No," he shook his head, "not that." He turned and looked back the way they came, a frown on his face. "It is something else." Absently he rubbed the back of his neck. "There is something here Nasutei." He turned back to her as they exited the building. 

"What do you mean?" 

"I . . . it is hard to explain. But . . . something seriously wrong is happening here." 

* * * * * 

On the other side of the building, Shin and several of his classmates watched as a dark oily cloud rose into the overcast sky. In the distance were the faint sounds of sirens racing to the scene. 

A young lady with short cut curly brown hair turned away from the building. "Has anyone heard anything about what happened?" 

"Come on Miki," Ryuji casually draped his arm over the girl's shoulder. "We can figure that out for ourselves. The building is on fire." 

She rolled her eyes and removed his arm. "What caused the fire, moron?" 

"Shin," the fourth member of the small group, Chieko, looked up at him. "What do you think caused the fire?" 

"I'm not sure," he murmured, not noticing Chieko's pout as he stared at the building, paying it more attention than her. There was something wrong going on here. Something very wrong. 

The smoke was acting peculiar. It was rising in a column straight into the sky, despite the light breeze that had been blowing all day. And as for the smoke itself, it was a thick, heavy oily smoke, black in color. It was the kind of smoke that one usually associated with oil or chemical fires. Not wood, which was what the building was partially constructed from. He took a deep breath, breathing in the fresh sent of freshly fallen rain; no hint of acrid smoke flavored the air. And, his eyes narrowed, during all the time they had been standing out here, he had not heard one person mention seeing the fire, only smoke. 

A cold prickling sensation formed at the base of his neck and worked down his spine. Sharply he spun around, causing his three friends to stare at him. Something was out there, in the surrounding trees. Something dark. Watching them. 

"Shin?" Ryuji clasped Shin's shoulder. "Is something wrong?" 

"I . . . am not sure," he answered evasively as he continued to carefully scan the surrounding area. "Have you guys noticed anything . . . strange?" 

Miki gave him a puzzled look. "You mean besides how you are acting? No." 

"No, not that. I feel like we are being watched." 

He didn't notice that his three friends gave him a searching look, then looked around. There had to be more than two hundred students milling around. Of course some of the students would look their way. They looked at each other, then at Shin. 

"I don't see anyone looking at us, what about you girls?" Miki and Chieko shook their heads. "Maybe it is your imagination . . . " Ryuji's voice faded off as they watched Shin suddenly stiffen. 

_There_. Shin's eyes narrowed as he watched something dart from behind one tree to another. _What is that?_ A moment later he got a clearer look as it darted to a third tree, slowly making its way away from the building. Tall. Blackish skin. It was defiantly not human. 

"I have to go." 

Ryuji, Miki, and Chieko watched in bemusement as their friend ran off toward the tree line with no explanation. 

* * * * * 

"Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn!" Arial swore from tightly clenched teeth. She was too late! "I can't believe it Haato," Arial looked behind her at the little kitten. "They beat me to it. A few minuets earlier, and I would have been here. I have already blown it! Oh!" 

Tears of frustration filled her misery-clouded eyes. She quickly rubbed them away. Tears would not help matters any. They never had before. "Come on, we should get . . . " a movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. "What was that?" She stared at a tree, and watched as a tall dark form ran from behind it to the cover of another tree. A grunt! Her heart started to beat faster. There would only be one reason for a servant of the Shadow Lords to be here. The statue. 

She watched closely as it ran to another tree, and saw that it was holding a small cloth wrapped item. It had the statue! She still had a chance! 

"So that was how they gathered the statues, piece of cake." Silently she started to follow it. A grunt was something she could take care of easily. It quickly headed away from the building, and the crowd of students around it. That was just fine with her. She would wait until she was a safe distance from them before attacking. There was no reason to involve innocents in this. 

A few minutes later they were at the far side of the campus, next to a large undeveloped plot of land intended for future development. Several dirt tracks were worn into the grass, this was a popular area for students to have lunch as it was near the campus buildings, but gave the impression of being a large park. The grunt gave a fugitive look around; then stepped out of the trees. 

Shin stepped out from behind a tree as well. They were now at the Lawn, as the students called it, and standing underneath one of the few freestanding trees was whatever he had been following. 

"What the hell . . . " He had been right. Whatever it was, it wasn't anywhere near human. It was humanoid in form, standing more than six feet tall. Its skin was black, a shiny, rubbery skin. It was totally hairless, and had a dark-brown loincloth wrapped around its hips. Cradled in one arm was a cloth bound object. 

The creature was looking around, seeing if it had been followed, and saw Shin at the edge of the lawn. It hissed at him, displaying a formidable set of fangs and began to approach. 

"Watch this!" 

A knapsack hit the ground next to Shin and a girl sprinted past him before he had a chance to do anything, her long braid of blond hair nearly striking him in the face. After one startled moment, he gasped. It was the girl from the alley! She was dressed differently, but it was she! 

Arial sprang past the young man, who in their right mind would go chasing after a grunt unarmed? (And why the heck was he doing something that stupid anyway?) She stretched her arm into the air above her; a soft silvery glow surrounded her hand, elongated, and then faded away, leaving a long silver blade in its place. The grunt hissed at her threateningly, clutching the cloth wrapped item tight to its chest. 

She stopped her advance twenty feet from the demon, they had learned the hard way that grunts were more dangerous than then seemed, and brought her sword out in front of her. 

"You fail here demon," she murmured in a soft voice, then attacked. 

From the sidelines Shin watched the fight in amazement. The girl, whomever she was, had summoned a sword out of thin air. Not a normal trick. It was apparent to him that she knew exactly what she was fighting. The creature, she had called it a demon and he had no reason to doubt her, was holding its own against her. It had no weapons per se, but upon her attack the claws of its free hand had extended into foot long talons. Not something he would want to fight without armor. 

After a minute, his eyes narrowed. The demon was not attacking the girl. Strange. He continued to watch, a frown coming to rest on his normally pleasant face. The demon was neither attacking nor retreating. Suddenly he gasped. It was a delaying tactic. It had to be. Rapidly he looked around, if he was right the demon was waiting for reinforcements. 

Seemingly right on cue, toward his left and behind the girl, a dark distortion appeared in the sky twenty or so feet above the ground. Out of it jumped two more demons just like the first. They landed heavily on the ground, and their gazes swept toward the girl. They hissed at her, and leaped. 

"Behind you!" Arial leaped into the air the moment she heard the yelled warning. She twisted in the air, saw a dark blur move out of the corner of her eyes, and landed ten yards from her starting point. Two more grunts. The warning had come none too soon. 

_Shimatta! Should have known it was up to something. All it was doing was dodging._ She turned her head, focusing speculative eyes upon the first grunt. _I have to get that statue. Problem is, if I attack him, the other two will attack me. If I attack them, the one with the statue will get away . . . _ She broke off her thought as the new grunts rushed her. Arial tightened her grip on her sword and readied herself. 

Shin sat his book bag down next to the girl's backpack. She had acted immediately at his warning, and was now facing off against two demons. The other one had started to slink off. 

"Enough with watching. Busso, Suiko!" 

A fragrant swirl of pink cherry blossoms appeared around him, and a moment later he was in the ornate armor that Suzunagi had given him the year before. 

"Busso, Suiko!" Arial spun around and stared at the young man. A cherry blossom petal absently fluttered past her, riding on the breeze. 

"Shin," she whispered softly under her breath. That young man, it had been Shin. He was in his sea armor. She had watched him die in that armor. "Gods . . . " Involuntarily she stepped back a pace. She was not ready for this. Not to face him. 

Distracted, she did not notice that the grunts were now watching her again. The one nearest to her growled deep within its throat, and attacked. 

"Huh?" Arial spun her head around at a sudden internal warning called out to her. She had lost focus! Arial ducked and the grunt sailed over her. She was on her feet before it touched the ground, and ran toward it. It did not have a chance. Grunts had never adjusted quickly to unexpected attacks. Arial ran her sword through its chest before it knew what was happening. It reached one taloned hand to the silver sword protruding from its chest, then fell forward. A smile flashed across Arial's face. One down, two more to go. 

The demon attacked Shin the same moment its companion attacked the girl. He had managed to see her duck out of the way before he had to defend himself. The demon's first strike was easily blocked with his staff, and he leaped backwards out of the way at the second. He landed fifteen feet away and aimed his spear at the demon. 

This was an unnecessary but old habit that had been ingrained on him when he wore the Suiko yoroi. The energy of the five mystical yoroi was focused in their weapons for their attacks, in his case his yari. His new armor had no special abilities, this time the magic was his, but he was still use to focusing on his spear. 

A soft blue glow surrounded the spear-point, a glowing ball of soft, shimmering light. Unaware of the danger it was in, the demon crouched in preparation to leap at Shin. 

Shin shook his head, "Not today, Mizu Hashira!" The blue glow solidified and transformed. Under the control of Shin's mind, a surging pillar of water shot forward and swallowed the demon. It didn't make a sound. He lowered his spear and looked at the tar-like goo floating on a puddle of water, it was the only thing that remained of the demon. Nasty. He turned away in disgust and looked around to see if the girl was all right. 

She was standing over a similar black puddle. Apparently she had done just fine. She was not looking at it, or him, however. Her gaze was focused on the distant tree line, a small worried frown on her face. The third demon had disappeared. 

"Dammit!" Distress filled eyes searched the clearing. The grunt had vanished without a trace. She had failed. 

"Excuse me miss?" She stiffened. "What is going on?" Slowly she turned around. Shin. He was still here. Without realizing what she was doing, she started to step backward away from him. 

Shin sighed to himself. _Here we go again. Just like the last time._ The wide-eyed stricken look was the same look he had seen on her fact two weeks ago. Her next actions were predictable. _If I make a move toward her, she'll bolt. If I do nothing, she will continue to back away and leave. Either way I won't find out what just happened here._

"Miss?" 

Arial halted under a tree, tensed for flight. He hadn't made a move toward her, what was he planning? 

"Please don't leave." He cautiously took a half step forward. She continued to stand in place. "I just want to know what is going on. What were those things?" The girl did not answer, just gazed at him, face pale, with wounded dark purple eyes locked on his face. 

He looked into her eyes, really looked this time, and gasped. _Her eyes . . . What has happened to her?_ He had never seen such pain in a person before, not even when he had seen her before. Shin continued to stare into her eyes, unable to turn away, his entire being focused on her pain. For some reason, he wished that he could take it away. She was just a child. Someone so young should never have known such soul-searing pain as he was seeing in her eyes. 

_So old, her pain,_ he thought to himself in sudden, unexplainable realization. _Built up over a lifetime. Deep emotional pain._ He took a deep breath, and brought a clenched fist to his heart. His chest . . . burning . . . so tight, it hurt . . . _I feel . . . her pain?_ He shut his eyes, breaking the unexpected empathic contact. _Soul deep pain of loss. My presence brings it back to her, why? And how could I feel it?_

A small branch snapped, a near imperceptible sound, and all his shinobi instincts screamed at him. His head whipped up in the direction the sound came from, the tree the girl was under. She hadn't heard; still lost in her pain. A branch quivered, a shadow moved. And Shin came to a horrifying realization. 

"MOVE!" he yelled and lifted his spear up over his shoulder, aiming it at the shadow. The last demon sprang out of the tree toward the girl. 

Arial turned at Shin's yell, and gasped. She brought her sword up in an effort to protect herself as she threw herself away from the demon's outstretched claws. Arial felt the tips of the grunts claws rake across her forehead, seconds too slow to completely avoid the attack, and she fell to the ground, striking her head hard against the ground. Still in shock from her encounter with Shin, she felt nothing of her injuries, or of hitting the ground. Only the warm sensation of her blood flowing across her chilled skin from the two deep slashes registered with her. Her ears began to ring; a distant, buzzing sound, and her vision began to gray around the edges. Before she realized what was happening, she slid into unconsciousness. 

Shin rushed forward. His spear had struck the demon the exact moment it had reached for the girl. His aim had been true, the spear had pierced the demon's chest and heart, but the demon had wounded the girl. His armor disappeared in a fall of cherry blossoms and Shin fell to his knees next to the girl. She was lying on her side; her face turned away from him apparently unconscious. Slowly he placed his fingers under her chin to turn her face toward him. His fingers encountered a warm stickiness. Blood. 

Swallowing past the lump that had suddenly appeared in his throat, he slid his other arm around her and turned her to lie on her back. Blood was everywhere. Flowing across her cheeks, into her hair, running from the lacerations on her forehead and into a puddle under her head. Frantically he pulled out his handkerchief and pressed it to her forehead. He had to stop the bleeding! 

"Damn." In a matter of seconds the cloth was stained crimson. He lifted his head and looked around the clearing. No one was in sight. Apparently no one had noticed what had been happening here. He closed his eyes. What to do? The girl was seriously hurt. She needed someone to tend to her. He thought for a second; then made a decision. 

He looked back at her. "I can't take you to the hospital, too many questions." With his free hand he began to unbutton his blazer. "Then there is that little problem of the APB that Date-san has put out on you. Someone would be sure to recognize you." He shook his arm out of the blazer's sleeve and then placed his free hand on the handkerchief, freeing his other hand. "I don't know of any place to take you where someone can watch over you," he finished taking off his blazer and arranged it over the girl, "except my place." 

That meant teleportation. There was no way he would be able to carry a blood-covered girl home without drawing unwanted attention to himself and her. Besides, there was no way he could carry her on his motorcycle. "Poor child . . . " Gently he lifted his hand, removing the now red handkerchief. The bleeding seemed to have stopped. 

"Maybe it is not as bad as I . . . oh . . . " His voice faded off as he saw the girl's injuries. Two long, deep cuts running clear across her forehead and into her hairline, bone showing through on one of them. "Oh my God . . . " he whispered in shock and brought searching fingers to her brow. It was worse than he thought. Both cuts would require stitching. "But the bleeding has stopped?" he murmured. With cuts that deep and wide? Strange. But then, what wasn't about this girl? 

"Okay miss, lets see about getting you out of here." He glanced down at the handkerchief. What was he going to do with it? After several moments of indecision, he placed it back across the cuts. The bleeding had stopped, but the wounds still needed covered. He got to his feet. 

Rapidly he jogged over to where his book bag and her bag were. "How am I going to carry . . . " He reached for the knapsack. It wouldn't be any problem to place his bag in hers, and his hands would be free. "Okay then," he started to unzip the bag. 

"Mew?" A small feline head poked out of the bag and looked up at him questioningly. Shin blinked at it uncomprehendingly for a moment, then smiled as he recognized it. 

"So she kept you, hmmm?" He reached out and rubbed the kitten's head. It closed its eyes blissfully. "Cute." He lifted the kitten out and placed his bag inside. He zipped up the knapsack and swung it over his shoulder, the kitten cradled against his chest, and walked back to the girl. 

"Now lets get you out of here." Shin sat the kitten on the ground and started to bend down, then noticed a smallish cloth wrapped object lying near the base of the tree. It was what the demon had been carrying. 

"Better take that as well," he absently murmured. "If it was important enough for that thing to take, it is important enough for me to take." He stepped around the girl and picked up the object with one hand. "Hmmm . . . " It was rather heavy for such a small item. He swung the knapsack off his shoulder and unzipped it. There was just enough room for it in the bag. He placed it in; then began to zip it back up. 

"Mew!" The kitten suddenly jumped onto the bag and blinked at him owlishly. 

"I take that to mean that you are riding there?" The kitten gazed up at him innocently. "And I can't believe I am holding a conversation with a cat." Shaking his head, he pulled the knapsack on without dislodging the kitten. It was apparent to him that it was use to this mode of transportation. 

Shin walked back over to the girl. She hadn't moved. _She looks so helpless . . . _ He bent down and removed the cloth, tucking it into his blazer's pocket. He would deal with them later. Carefully he placed his arms under her shoulders and knees, and lifted. 

_So light!_ He looked down at her in amazement. _She is all skin and bones._ He thought back to when he first saw her. She had looked delicate then, and even more so now. He gently pulled her closer, and the movement caused her head to roll so that her cheek came to rest softly against his shoulder. He took a deep breath. She looked so fragile. So delicate, so innocent even in the mess she was in . . . 

_Beautiful . . . _ The unexpected thought sprang into his mind. A second later he realized in shock what he had done and shook his head to rid himself of the unwanted thought. _Baka! Just _what_ are you thinking?_ he castrated himself. _She is a child. A hurt little girl. Thinking about her in such a way . . . Just even thinking about her, what is wrong with you?_

In self-disgust he looked away from the girl's face and looked around the clearing. He had everything, and no one was in sight. Once he was absolutely sure no one was watching them from the trees, he closed his eyes and concentrated, willing himself to his apartment. 

Teleporting. He wasn't really quite sure how it worked. When he had the Suiko yoroi he drew on the armor's mystical abilities to transport himself to a specific location. His own abilities, while similar in some ways to his old armor's, were vastly different. 

The yoroi were originally made in a demon world, the Youjakai, by a demon for the purpose of destruction until the one yoroi was broken into nine by Kaos. Infused with dark power and magic, the five the Samurai Troopers wore could draw energy from the five elements of the Earth. 

It wasn't like that any more for him. Suzunagi had shown them the truth before she went to her rest. They had never needed the yoroi, not truly. They had been bound to their particular armor because each mirrored their own natural abilities; elemental abilities that had started to awaken with the awakening of the yoroi. 

His element was water. It was his to manipulate and control at whim. The flow of the sea was in his blood, the language of the creatures of the oceans his by birth. Even before he gave up Suiko he had been using his own abilities. Touma had once theorized that if they had not lost the yoroi in Tanzania, they would have eventually been destroyed by their wearer's own energy. 

But still, he had no idea how one with elemental abilities could teleport. Several months ago, Touma had tried to explain to them a theory he had come up with. It went right over their heads. It had gotten to the point that Shu had even asked Touma to wait until they had graduated from the University to try to make them understand. Shin did not hold out much hope for that happening. 

A soft cool sensation swept over him, and he opened his eyes. They were in his bedroom. He quickly approached his bed and laid the girl down. He removed the blazer and threw it on the back of a chair, then stripped off the knapsack, setting it next to the nightstand. For a moment he gazed down at her, then exited the room. 

Shin returned moments later with his first aid kit tucked under one arm, a basin of warm water in his hands, and several towels tossed over his shoulder. He sat the basin down on the nightstand, placing the first aid kit on the edge of the bed. He took one of the towels and dipped it in the water, then rang it out. Gently he began dabbing at the girl's face. With great care he washed away the blood, and then studied her wounds. 

They hadn't started bleeding again. In fact, he brushed his fingers across them, it seemed as though they had already begun to heal. At a pace that was unusually rapid. More evidence that this girl was not normal. To be on the safe side, he applied an antibiotic and dressed the wounds. 

"Now about your cloths," He stood up and walked to his dresser. Her cloths were a wreck. Torn, covered with blood and dirt, they needed to be changed. "Hmmm . . . " He opened one drawer and pulled out an oversized T-shirt he had received as a gift the year before. 

"This should work nicely." He held up the shirt. It was a size too large for him, the perfect thing for the girl to wear. It would cover her almost to her knees. Shin closed the drawer and turned back to his bed. He casually tossed the T-shirt across the footboard of his bed and went to stand next to the girl. 

It took only a moment to slip off her slippers and to unzip her jeans. Carefully he slid them off of her, absently noticing how slender her legs were as he did so, and dumped them on the floor. "Now for the shirt." Shin sat on the bed and gently lifted the girl so that her slender, prone body was leaning against his. First he peeled off the loose long-sleeved shirt she was wearing. Then looked down at her. He took a deep breath, this next part was not something he was comfortable with, and took the hem of the T-shirt in his hands. 

_Okay,_ he took another bracing breath, _you can do this._ He started to lift the shirt over hertorso. _Get this off of her, put the other one on and tuck her into bed . . . Oh . . . My . . . _ "God . . . " he finished in a strangled whisper. His eyes dilated in shock and a deep, burning red flush crept up his cheeks. The T-shirt fell from numb fingers to fall limply to the floor. The girl was not wearing anything under the T-shirt. And she was most definitely _not_ a child. 

* * * * * 

"No one has seen him since third hour." Nasutei informed Ryo, Seiji and Shu as they entered the faculty lounge with her. Touma, the only other person present, was already sitting. "Some of his classmates said they saw him run off toward the Lawn. That was the last anyone has seen him." 

"After hearing this I went to the Lawn looking for him, and found something rather disturbing." They turned to Touma. 

"What?" Shu asked. 

"Three black, tar-like puddles of an unknown origin, several nearly dry puddles of sea water," he gave his friends a bleak look, "and an area of grass stained with what looks to be blood." 

Seiji slowly sank into a chair. "Blood?" he asked numbly. "What happened?" 

Blue hair went flying as Touma shook his head. "I have no idea. I believe that it might have something to with the supposed fire today and related incidents." The three young men gave Touma a confused look. They had heard about the fire, everyone on the campus had heard about it, but that was all they heard about. 

"Professor Kanzaki is dead," Nasutei said in a low voice. "His private office was torn apart and," Nasutei gave a slight shutter, "so was he. Everything inside was covered with an oily residue that no one can account for." 

"Could it have been caused by the fire?" 

"What fire?" Nasutei rubbed her temples. "There was no fire, not one that anyone could find. There was only smoke. The fire officials can't make any sense of it." 

"What about Shin!" Shu demanded. "Why didn't you tell us about this earlier?" 

"We didn't know he was missing until a little while ago," Touma informed Shu. "Haruika Chieko came up to me an hour ago asking if I knew where Shin was. I told her I didn't, and then she told me what had happened. In detail." Touma closed his eyes momentarily as he recalled the conversation. Haruika-san was such a dingbat! Getting trapped in conversation with her was like spending quality time in purgatory. "I told Nasutei, then went to the Lawn." 

"If something was wrong, why didn't he contact us?" Ryo looked at his friend's faces. None of them had any idea why he hadn't. A muffled ringing noise suddenly filled the room. Both Nasutei and Seiji reached for their cell phones. 

"It is mine," Seiji announced as he pulled his phone out. "Moshi moshi. Date speaking . . . Shin?!" Everyone jumped to his or her feet. 

"Here," Shu rushed over and grabbed for the phone. "Give!" Seiji moved the phone to his other ear and glared at Shu. 

"Where are you? Home? Shin, what . . . " he paused to listen to what Shin was saying. "Okay, that will not be a problem. Yes, Nasutei is with us right now . . . Yes, I will tell him." Seiji folded the phone and tucked it away. 

"Well?" they chorused. 

"Shin is apparently fine," Seiji said casually. "He is at home, and he wants all of us to come over. He has something he wishes to show us." 

"What?" Ryo asked. Seiji shook his head. 

"Shin would not say. He said it was something he could not explain over the phone, only in person." 

Shu bounded toward the door. "C'mon then. What are we waiting for?" Seiji stood up and straightened his blazer. 

"Shu." 

He froze in the act of opening the door and looked at Seiji. "What?" he asked a bit impatiently. 

"Shin asked if you would ride his motorcycle to his apartment. He said you know where the spare key is." 

"Hold on," Ryo held up his hand and turned to Seiji. "He left his cycle here?" Seiji nodded. "How did he get home then?" 

* * * * * 

Shin answered the door on the second ring, a faint cross look on his face. "Hi everyone." He stepped back, swinging the door open wide enough to let everyone pass through. 

"Okay Shin," Shu announced. "What is going on . . . what is that?" he demanded, giving Shin's right shoulder a pointed look. 

Shin's eyes slid to the right. "A right proper pest," he grumbled. Sitting on his shoulder was the kitten. 

"It's cute Shin." Nasutei walked over and scratched under its chin. The kitten immediately began to purr. "When did you get him?" 

"Today." 

Her fingers crept up and Nasutei began to scratch behind the kitten's ears. "Can I hold him?" 

"You are more than welcome to try." 

She gave Shin a strange look, and then reached for the kitten. The moment she started to lift him, he dug his claws through Shin's shirt and into his skin. Shin hissed in pain and Nasutei immediately released it. 

"Uh," Ryo glanced around the apartment. Everything seemed normal. "You didn't call us here about that cat, did you?" 

Shin shook his head. "No, follow me." He turned and walked through the family room and down the hall toward his bedroom. The rest of them gave each other a puzzled look and quickly followed. Shin waited until they caught up to him; then silently pushed the door open. 

"Shhh . . . " he whispered, then motioned for them to look. 

The five of them peered into the dimly lit room. "At least turn the light on," Shu complained. "Can't see a thing . . . " He narrowed his eyes, trying to see in the darkened room. They widened a moment later as he watched the covers on Shin's bed move. Nasutei gave a slight gasp, and they all turned to Shin. 

"That's a girl!" Shu hissed. "You have a girl in your bed!" Shu's voice began to rise, and Shin swung the door close. 

"Well now," Seiji gave Shin a curious look, one eyebrow arched, "that is something I would never have expected of you Shin." Ryo snickered and Touma gave them all a puzzled look. "I believe you told us that you were not planning on having any type of relationship with a girl until after you graduated." 

"Cute, Seiji. Really really cute," Shin said sarcastically, his cheeks turning faintly pink. "I don't suppose you recognize her?" 

Seiji, with a slight smile on his face at Shin's reaction, turned to the others. They all shook their heads. "Have we met her before?" Touma asked. 

"Not formally." Shin gave each one of them a searching look, and began to smile. "But I am sure you all remember her. After all, how many girls have you met recently that can jump five story buildings?" 

"That's her?!" Ryo gasped and turned back to the closed door. 

"Where did you find her?" Nasutei asked. 

"And why is she in your bed?" 

"Shu . . . " Shin growled warningly. Shu promptly clamped his jaws shut. "If you would care to follow me back to the living room, I'll explain everything." 

* * * * * 

". . . after I got her safely in bed I came out here with the knapsack." Shin reached down next to the easy chair he was sitting in and pulled out a cloth-wrapped object from the bag. "This is what the demon was after." He stood up and handed the object to Nasutei. "Do you recognize it?" 

She reached out and took the cloth wrapped object from Shin. "Should I?" He shrugged and she turned her attention back to the object he had handed to her. Silently she unwrapped it, and gasped in shock as she saw what she held in her hands. 

"What is it?" Ryo leaned forwards and looked at the statue she held. 

The statue was small, not over eight inches tall, its head and body resembling a sitting lion in general appearance. That was where the similarities ended. On the statue's head was a set of long spiral horns. Instead of normal lion legs, the statue's front legs resembled a bird's, down to long talons on scaled feet and the back legs had cloven hooves like those of a goat's. Even its tail was different. Halfway up its length, the tail split into three, with the center tail sporting a scorpion-like stinger. It was carved out what appeared to be a solid block of dark blue jade, making it as beautiful as it was alien. 

"It's one of the Statues of Amaterasu." Nasutei whispered in wonder. "It has been said that they were the source of Empress Himiko's power. Professor Kanzaki told me last week that a collector was donating one to the University under his care. It arrived at the University this morning." 

"It would have been in his office then," Touma murmured. He raked a hand through his hair. It stubbornly fell back across his forehead. On Shin's shoulder the kitten's eyes locked on Touma, the black tip of his tail twitching. "The demon knew where it was, and was willing to kill to get it." 

"The girl was after it as well." All attention turned to Seiji. "From what Shin said he saw; it is apparent that she knows what is going on." 

"Fine." Shu sat up from where he was slouching on the sofa next to Nasutei. "As soon as she wakes up, we ask her what's goin' on . . . " 

"That won't work." Ryo turned to Shu. "Remember last time. She took off once she saw us." 

"She was backing away from me earlier as well," Shin reminded Shu softly. 

"But she did pause when you asked her to," Nasutei pointed out. "It might be best if you were the one to initially talk to her." 

"Yes," Touma said, giving a slight nod. "That would be a good idea." 

"Mew!" Suddenly the kitten jumped off of Shin's shoulder and landed on the sofa. Shin clutched his wounded shoulder and watched as it ran across Shu and Nasutei's lap to reach Touma. Before anyone could move, it had sprung up onto his shoulder and began to bat at the lock of blue hair that hung down to his nose. 

"Hey!" Touma grabbed the kitten before it could protest and dropped it on the floor. "Crazy cat." 

The kitten stood up, shook himself and gave Touma a cross look. "Mrrr . . . " Touma glared back. The kitten then gave him a curious look, and turned away. He bounced over to Shin and gave him an enquiring look. 

"Mew?" 

Shin glanced down at him. "No, I am not picking you back up. Why don't you go find some nice corner to curl up in and take a nap?" 

The kitten blinked at him, then started to bat at his slacks' cuffs. "Mew, me-ew!" He looked up at Shin again mournfully. "Meeew?" 

Shin hung his head. "Excuse me for a moment." He swept the kitten up and quickly disappeared down the hall. Everyone in the room was silent as they stared down the hall. A door opened and closed, and a moment later Shin returned, minus the kitten. 

"Uh Shin," Ryo gave him a worried look. "Are you sure you are feeling okay? You didn't get hit on the head or anything?" 

Shin gave him a puzzled look. "Why?" 

"You were talking to that cat." Shu pointed out. "That's a bit strange." 

"That kitten is strange," Shin corrected. 

Nasutei decided that it would be a good idea to change the subject. "Shin," she placed the statue down on the coffee table. "Why did you wait so long to contact us?" 

"Ahhh . . . " A sheepish look passed across Shin's face. "I fell asleep." Everyone turned disbelieving eyes to Shin. "I closed my eyes and the next thing I knew, it was after three." 

"You took a nap?" Shu asked in disbelief. "With everything that is going on, you took a nap?!" 

"Shu," Nasutei admonished. "He has had a hard day." 

"Well yeah, I guess so." Shu crossed his arms and slouched back against the sofa. "So what do we do now?" 

Everyone was silent. 

"We have to find out what that girl knows." Ryo finally said. "Until then, our hands are pretty well tied." 

"I wouldn't go that far," Nasutei stared at the statue. "We can research the statue. See what we can find out about it." 

"And why it is so popular," Touma added. 

The others nodded in agreement. 

"I can check out what is in Grandfather's library. He and Professor Kanzaki had been friends since they attended the University together. I am sure he has something about it in his notes." 

"I will help you," Touma volunteered. "I have nothing planned for tonight that won't keep. Besides," he gave the statue a thoughtful look. "I am curious." 

"So'm I, but I got homework waiting for me." Shu propped his fist under his chin and looked over at Ryo and Seiji. "What about you guys?" 

"My father is in town for a couple of days. We were going out to dinner tonight." 

"I have a date . . . " Five sets of eyes swung to Seiji. "What?" he asked defensively. 

"Who are you going out with?" Shu asked stupidly. "I didn't think you were talking to Katlynne yet." 

Everyone gave Seiji a nervous look as he glared at Shu. "What do you mean by that?" he asked dangerously. 

"Uh, err . . . " Shu blubbered. Oops. Open mouth; insert both feet. "Oh, you've gotten back together? That's great!" 

"Shu . . . " Seiji growled. 

"Jesh!" Shu jumped up. "Just look at the time! It is almost six. I have got to be going!" The others looked at their watches as well. None of them had realized how late it was getting. 

"Six?" Seiji shook his wrist and peered down at it. "I have a quarter to five." Curiously he tapped the face; then brought it up to his ear. "It stopped," he said in surprise. 

"Guess you will have to buy a new watch then." Ryo stood up as well. "Sorry Shin, but I have to be going too. They closed the University for the rest of the week, to investigate what happened." He turned to Nasutei. "Meet at your place tomorrow?" 

She nodded, her eyes lifting from the statue as she looked over at Shin. "Do you mind if I take the statue with me?" 

"No, not at all." Shin watched as she lifted the statue off the table. This would be the perfect time to ask her. "Nasutei . . . " 

"Don't worry." She smiled at Shin as she wrapped up the statue, misunderstanding what he was about to ask her. "I'll take good care of it." 

"Oh, I am sure you will," Shin quickly replied, his voice starting to sound a little strained. No one noticed. "But I wanted . . . " 

"Hey Shin, see ya tomorrow." Shin looked over at Shu. He was standing in front of the front door, his hand on the knob. Shin watched in growing despair as the others joined him. 

"B-but . . . " 

"See you tomorrow." Touma said softly. "Keep an eye on the girl. We don't want her disappearing on us again." He pulled the door closed behind him. 

"Guys . . . " Shin's soft wail filled the room. He brought a hand to his temple. "Damn." Slowly, reluctantly, he turned away from the door and walked down the hall. He paused for a moment in front of the door to his bedroom in silent contemplation; then reached for the knob. The door silently swung open. Of their own accord, his feet brought him to the side of the bed. 

She was peacefully sleeping, the kitten curled up into a tight little ball against her neck. Shin studied her face. Her skin tone had improved dramatically since he put her to bed. If it weren't for the bandages, one would think she was just taking a nap. 

Shin bent over and on an impulse, lightly brushed her cheek with the back of his fingers. It was so soft. So warm . . . He jerked his hand back as though he had just burnt it. Maybe he had, for it seemed he could still feel the warmth of her skin against his fingers. 

"Nasutei," he murmured to himself softly. "I wish you hadn't left so fast." There was a slight rustling of the bed sheets as the young lady shifted. A gentle smile came to her lips, and Shin's heart began to beat faster. Sharply he spun and all but bolted for the door. He quickly shut it, as though he could trap what he was feeling behind it. 

"They didn't even think twice about leaving her here." Shin closed his eyes and brought his forehead to rest against the wooden door. "They probably think it's best that she stays here, that I am the best person to watch over her." Normally, they would have been correct in their assumptions. "But she is different. She makes _me_ feel different. I'll protect her," his voice dropped to a mere whisper, "but who is going to protect me?" 

(to be continued . . . ) 

=^._.^= 

* * * revised 2003 * * * 


End file.
